NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Network-1
Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: NTIP) today announced that the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, issued a Report and
Recommendation addressing the parties' claim construction issues
("Markman Ruling") and defendants' Motion for Summary
Judgment regarding improper claim broadening in Network-1's pending
patent infringement litigation against Hewlett Packard Company,
Avaya Inc., Juniper Networks, Inc. and Axis Communications Inc.
involving its Remote Power Patent.
In a Markman Ruling, the Court hearing a
patent infringement case interprets and rules on the scope and
meaning of disputed patent claim language regarding the patent at
issue. In the Markman Ruling, the Court
adopted a number of constructions proposed by Network-1, while also
adopting constructions proposed by defendants. As part of the
Markman Ruling, the Court also considered
defendants' motion for Summary Judgment that all claims of the
Remote Power Patent are invalid for improper claim
broadening. The Court found that all of the original asserted
claims of the Remote Power Patent survived the challenge, and only
one claim (Claim 23, obtained during a Reexamination of the Remote
Power Patent at the USPTO in 2014) was invalid due to improper
claim broadening.
"We are very pleased with the Markman Ruling and remain
confident in our position that the defendants infringe our patent
rights", said Corey M. Horowitz, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Network-1. "A Markman Ruling that does not
entirely adopt either the plaintiff's or defendants' proposed
constructions is very common in patent litigation. While the
outcome of this and any legal matter is unpredictable, we believe
the Court's Markman Ruling is another significant step towards the
successful resolution of this litigation and further validates
Network-1's ongoing commitment to the enforcement of its
intellectual property rights."
In September 2011, the Company
initiated patent litigation against sixteen data networking
equipment manufacturers in the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Texas, Tyler
Division, for infringement of its Remote Power Patent.
Network-1 previously reached settlement and license agreements with
twelve of the original defendants. The remaining four
defendants in the lawsuit are Hewlett-Packard Company, Avaya Inc.,
Juniper Networks, Inc., and AXIS Communications Inc.
Network-1 seeks monetary damages based upon reasonable
royalties.
The Remote Power Patent relates to, among other things,
delivering power over Ethernet cables to remotely power network
connected devices including, among others, wireless access points,
VoIP telephones and network cameras. In June 2003, the IEEE approved the 802.3af PoE
Standard. The IEEE also approved the 802.3at Power over
Ethernet Plus (PoE Plus) Standard, which increased the maximum
power delivered to network devices to 40-60 watts from the current
15 watts under the 802.3af Standard.
Network-1 currently has twenty-five license agreements with
respect to its Remote Power Patent, which include, among others,
license agreements with Cisco Systems, Inc., Extreme Networks,
Inc., Netgear Inc., Dell, Inc., Alcatel-Lucent USA, Sony Corporation, Shoretel Inc.,
Microsemi Corporation, Motorola Solutions, Inc., NEC Corporation,
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and several other data networking
vendors.
ABOUT NETWORK-1 TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Network-1 Technologies, Inc. is engaged in the development,
licensing and protection of its intellectual property and
proprietary technologies. Network-1 works with inventors and
patent owners to assist in the development and monetization of
their patented technologies. Network-1 currently owns twenty-eight
(28) patents covering various telecommunications and data
networking technologies as well as technologies relating to
document stream operating systems and the identification of media
content. Network-1's current strategy includes continuing to
pursue licensing opportunities for its Remote Power Patent and its
efforts to monetize two patent portfolios (the Cox and Mirror
Worlds patent portfolios) acquired by Network-1 in 2013.
Network-1's acquisition strategy is to focus on acquiring high
quality patents which management believes have the potential to
generate significant licensing opportunities as Network-1 has
achieved with respect to its Remote Power
Patent. Network-1's Remote Power Patent has generated
licensing revenue in excess of $90
million from May 2007 through
June 30, 2016. Since
Network-1's acquisition of the Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio in
May 2013, Network-1 has achieved
licensing and other revenue of $47
million related to its Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements address future
events and conditions concerning Network-1's business plans. Such
statements are subject to a number of risk factors and
uncertainties as disclosed in the Network-1's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31,
2015 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including, among others, the continued validity of Network-1's
Remote Power Patent, the ability of Network-1 to successfully
execute its strategy to acquire high quality patents with
significant licensing opportunities, Network-1's ability to achieve
revenue and profits from its Cox Patent Portfolio as well as
intellectual property it may acquire in the future, the ability of
Network-1 to enter into additional license agreements, the ability
of Network-1 to continue to receive material royalties from its
existing license agreements for its Remote Power Patent, the
uncertainty of patent litigation and proceedings at the United
States Patent and Trademark Office, the difficulty in Network-1
verifying royalty amounts owed to it by its licensees, Network-1's
ability to enter into strategic relationships with third parties to
license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property, the risk
in the future of Network-1 being classified as a Personal Holding
Company, the continued viability of the PoE market, future economic
conditions and technology changes and legislative, regulatory and
competitive developments. Except as otherwise required to be
disclosed in periodic reports, Network-1 expressly disclaims any
future obligation or undertaking to update or revise any
forward-looking statement contained herein.
Corey M. Horowitz,
Chairman and CEO
|
Network-1
Technologies, Inc.
|
(212)
829-5770
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SOURCE Network-1 Technologies, Inc.